About the show

Latest Blog Posts

Some people are more than just strong and involved community members. Some live the archetypal life that is on offer in their community. Penguin?s Graham Owens is such a figure... 55 years of spear-fishing with his mate Tommy Edwards, more than 60 years in the local surf club and a key businessman in the town in the 1960s and ?70s. In more recent times, Graham has recorded more than 200 oral histories with the older people of the area for the Penguin history Group. Burnie reporter Rick Eaves reckons you?d be hard-pressed to beat Graham?s own tale of catching burglars... Read more

Burnie extreme metal band, Intense Hammer Rage, have played gigs on most every Friday the 13th and Halloween night since the dark dawn of rock and roll. But Burnie reporter Rick Eaves wondered... what do these men, who make music that is simply offensive to the average person, know of love and puppies? And what did they have they planned for Valentine?s Day? Drummer and and lyricist Alan Byard, or AB - and guitarist Bradley Rice, talk about the time their extreme recordings were seized by customs officers and they went on to spend two and a half years in... Read more

Ian Atkinson was literally born to milk cows at Natone, South of Penguin - and milk cows he did, just like his father, until he was into his sixties. Things began to change when Ian met an old fly-fisherman, a good one, who sparked the idea of turning the farm?s dams into a trout-fishing haven for tourists. That happened, the Natone hills fly fishing business took off and soon the morning milking had ended. Burnie reporter Rick Eaves recorded this chat with the very good-humoured Ian, who may yet be headed back to farming via his son's plan to farm... Read more

Ben Cadby is a young man living his dream of riding around Australia on a bicycle... the reality of that is made a little more challenging by the dietary demands of Ben?s vegan ideology. The 30-year-old chef from Gippsland has cycled and worked his way around Tasmania for nearly 3 years. He worked on Flinders, at Kingston, Strahan.... he got to King Island as well. Fair to say this young man is not just ticking off challenges. He told our reporter Rick Eaves he is happy to take 10 years to do his round-Australian odyssey somewhat properly... Download audio Read more

You heard it first on your ABC a couple of weeks ago and it really will be a sexy new look for the Forth Valley Blues Festival in March next year. Promoter, Andrew Argent, part of a new-look committee, promises the popular but slightly faded festival is moving on from very good ?12 bar blues on a footy ground? to something broader - and something that celebrates the beauty of the Forth Valley. Burnie reporter Rick Eaves got to record this advance chat with headliner, Russel Morris, in the leafy new performance space, right by the river-bank at Forth. The... Read more